Don't Leave Me
by Malloryxoxome
Summary: Natalie and Virgil are 17 and totally in love, but what happens when Virgil and his family leave for Tracy island in the south pacific? will they ever see eachother again? and what happens if they do?
1. Chapter 1

Virgil and I were sitting in his living room playing the Nintendo system playing none other than Mario kart. Needless to say, He was kicking my ass. His brothers were behind us cheering and shouting and just being their obnoxious selves. Gordon and John were shouting at Virgil telling him that it was wrong to beat a girl and things like that. Scott and Allen were yelling at me for letting Virgil beat me. Of course, we all knew that I could easily beat him, and have many a time before, but I felt bad for winning almost every single race we had and decided to give him a break for once.

"What's wrong cupcake?" Virgil asked over his brothers, "Finally getting too old to beat the man?"

"Exactly that." I shouted back at him.

"Come on Nat," Scott yelled, "Kick his sorry ass, don't let him win."

Just as balloons and confetti started to fall on his side of the screen, Mr. Tracy, their father, walked into the living room yelling at us all to quiet down while carrying a large bowl of popcorn. "Now, what movie is it going to be tonight?"

It was Friday night at the Tracy house and tradition was Mario kart, then a movie, then Virgil walked me home, A.K.A. across the street and three houses down.

In case you weren't picking up the hints, Virgil and I are dating, have been since the sixth grade, we are now in our junior year of high school and happier than ever. Yes, we have our fights, but we have only once ever broken up because of a fight, and even then, it only lasted 23 minutes. Both of our families are convinced that after college, we are going to get married, have kids, and live happily ever after in a house down the street. And to be honest, I really wouldn't mind that.

We all gathered in various spots in the living room. Virgil and I were cuddling on one end of the couch while Mr. Tracy A.K.A. Jeff, was sitting on the other end with Allen sitting in the middle. John was sitting in front of the coffee table, Gordon occupied the love seat, and Scott was sitting in the leather chair adjacent to Virgil and I. The movie was the third installment of the Star Wars Saga, Episode six, Return of The Jedi.

About half way through the movie, Gordon left the room, nothing unusual, I mean people do have to go to the bathroom sometime, but after about ten minutes, we started to get worried. Being the youngest, we sent Allen to go check on him, but when we heard him scream, nothing good came to mind. Somehow, Gordon had passed out on his way to the bathroom and wasn't waking up.

30 minutes later, we were all sitting in the waiting room of the hospital, fidgeting and squirming in our seats, praying that nothing bad happened. When the doctor came out, we all stood up and rushed towards him all asking questions at the same time, and very loudly might I add.

"Please," The doctor shouted over us, or tried to at least, "You need to quiet down and back up."

Almost immediately, we all shut up and let the doctor talk, but in no way did any of us back up. The doctor sighed and started to lead us to the elevator to get to Gordon's room. "Gordon seems to be doing well, we have treated him the best we could so far, but unfortunately, until he wakes up, there is nothing more that we can do." The elevator doors opened to the fifth floor and the doctor led us down the hallway and stopped at a closed door with the number 537 posted on a plate next to it.

When Mr. Tracy opened the door to Gordon's room, I swear I thought that he was going to pass out. Gordon was laying on the hospital bed with a tube going into his mouth, needles in his arms, and the pulse oximeter on his left pointer finger.

The looks on the guy's faces were enough to tell me that I didn't need to be there to crowd them. Virgil hadn't let go of my hand since we found Gordon so it was easy for me to pull him aside in the hallway. "Virg, I'm gonna call my sister to pick me up, okay?"

"You don't have to go right now, we-"

"It's getting late, and I have to babysit my cousin tomorrow morning, besides, I should leave you alone for now, it looks like your dad could use it."

"I'm waiting with you until she gets here."

"No, you need be in there, family time."

The look on his face was everything but cooperative and I knew that I was getting nowhere fast. I sighed, frustrated with Virgil and gave in to his stern look. "Fine."

Virgil turned towards Gordon's room and motioned to his dad that he was going to wait with me downstairs. It took all of 30 seconds for us to get lost. Apparently we took the wrong elevator and ended up in the south side of the hospital and had to walk around the building to get to where we came in. when we got to the front, we saw my sister driving up to us. "I'll call you tomorrow afternoon." Virgil said while hugging me, "and I'll give you a full update."

"Talk to you then."

"Love you."

"I love you too."

We kissed and he opened the car door for me and waited for me to leave sight before he walked back inside. Not much later, I got a text from him asking me what elevator to take, just to mock me. We texted until I got home and it was almost ten by then. My phone beeped just as I was about to turn off the light above my bed.

-Sleep tight, Nat. –

-Night- I responded and put my phone on vibrate.

"Hopefully tomorrow will me a better day" I said after turning off my light and laying down.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Criticize, please. I mean it. Seriously, I love it when people criticize, it sticks in my brain, and I make the story better for everyone, ps, thanks to Musette12 for the helpful hints on last chapter. It is much appreciated.

Virgil's POV

I said goodnight to Nat, and looked up from my cell. Immediately, I was met with the face of my unconscious brother. What even happened anyway? Our Friday night tradition took a nasty turn, and now that Gordon is in the hospital, everyone in the family is freaking out, and I know that he wouldn't want us to, seeing as how he's the one who will go to school with a fever just because he doesn't want to be the cause of worry.

I looked over to my dad who was holding Gordon's hand like it was going to grow wings and fly away. Alan was hugging him and Scott and John were just staring at him, almost like they were willing him to wake up. The room was more silent than any of us had ever been before. The only thing that you could hear was the constant beeping of the heart monitor echoing through your head. It was like a taunt; something to tell you that you were just sitting there watching your brother and doing absolutely nothing about it.

The digital clock on the wall flashed from 12:58 to 12:59 and it seemed to cause movement in the room. In a flash, my brothers' and my dad were surrounding Gordon, and seconds later, I heard the coarse voice of Gordon asking the one question you wouldn't expect to hear from someone waking up in a hospital.

"Did I miss the end of the movie?"

The silent room turned into a tornado of voices in an instant. Everyone was asking questions, making statements, accusations, and yelling at each other so that only one of us would be talking at a time. Of course, six guys in a hospital, yelling at each other at one in the morning would cause some commotion. Three doctors rushed into the room, fearing the absolute worst, and joined in the yelling, trying to get us all to be quiet. But we're the Tracy's, we like having the last word.

After on of the doctors finally got us all to calm down, he pulled our dad out into the hallway and closed the door behind him. Alan being Alan had to try and listen through the door. It didn't work out well for him. When dad and the doctor walked back into the room, the door hit Alan in the head and the doctor had a look on his face that was something like 'this happens all too often.'

"Can I talk to Gordon alone?" dad asked. Actually, he more so sated it, implying that we should leave the room. Though it didn't sound serious, dad always had to make sure of everything. Since mom died, dad had been playing both mother and father, and trust me, when he tried to cook, things didn't turn out well.

Scott, John, Alan, and I, headed down to the cafeteria, expecting it to be closed, but surprised when we found that it wasn't. We all picked out something to eat and grabbed one of the tables by the farthest window. For only the third time in my life, none of us had anything to say.

Suddenly Alan spoke up, startling us all, "Scott," he said, with a tired voice, "When will Gordon be okay?"

Scott looked at Alan with a sad, small smile forming across his face, "Soon." He stood up and walked over to Alan and grabbed his hand. "Let's get you home, okay?" Alan nodded in response and hopped out of his chair to follow Scott out to the car.

"We should probably go back up to Gordon's room." John said while standing up and grabbing his trash. "Come on."

John walked over to the trash can and Virgil and I mindlessly followed and numbly threw our trash away.

….

Once we got up to the room, dad was sitting down in the chair next to the bed reading a magazine while Gordon was sleeping. None of us had to worry about being too quiet, seeing as how heavy a sleeper Gordon is, he wouldn't hear us until the hour the sun rose.

"He doing okay?" Virgil asked walking over to the small couch in the corner of the room.

"Yes," Dad answered, "nothing to worry about. The doctor said that it should have been just a one-time thing, apparently Gordon had overworked himself and was just pretty exhausted."

"Well," John said, "I guess that's good, so he should be coming home tomorrow right?"

"Yes, he's coming home tomorrow. Where's Scott?"

"He took Alan home to get some sleep; he should be back with him tomorrow morning."

"Do you boys want to go home tonight?"

"No" John and I said simultaneously.

"I want to yell at him the moment he wakes up." John said.

"John," Dad started to say, but John had cut him off.

"I'm kidding dad." He said while holding his hands up in mock surrender.

"You should both get some sleep; we're going to the island tomorrow to start finishing up the Thunderbirds."

Right as he said that, my heart clenched. Every day that we got closer to finishing the Thunderbirds, was a day closer to leaving Nat. My dad and I had talked about telling Nat what we were going to become, but his answer never swayed even the slightest bit to a yes.

I looked at him, pleading with my eyes, but he turned to john in response and started to talk to him about Thunderbird 5.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Thanks for the reviews. I love them all, good and bad. Well, im not gonna spend time babbling, so read on and review if ya want to.

"Tommy!" I shouted over his stereo system, "turn that down, Tony is supposed to be napping and you're keeping him up.!"

"Well I'm not so sure that your shouting is helping any." Tommy shouted back to me.

Their parents were going to arrive home in just under 30 minutes and Tommy had yet to calm down since I arrived at six in the morning. I walked over to his bedroom and turned off his stereo. Needless to say, he was not pleased with me and ran over to me and started to hit and scream at his displeasure. "It isn't fair, I wanna listen to my music!" he screeched like a banshee.

I let him scream for the next five minutes until he was too tired to do anything else and picked him up off of the floor to put him in his bed. "I hate you." He muttered before he fell asleep.

I tucked him in and walked downstairs to check on Tony. Just as I neared his crib, my phone buzzed in my pocket and I saw a text from Virgil telling me to call him when I got a chance. I figured I could wait until after I left so I put my phone back in my pocket and made sure that Tony was really asleep this time and sat down to wait for the terror's parents.

Don't get me wrong, I love my cousins, but a four year old and a one year old, not the best time. A few minutes later I saw my aunt's car pull into the driveway and I waited on the couch for her to come inside.

"How were my babies?" she asked while walking over to Tony and kissing his forehead.

"Tony was great." Was all I said before she smiled and hugged me goodbye. We did the normal family exchange; see you soon and all that stuff before I got into my car to drive home.

I was going to stop by to see Virgil but there were no cars in the drive way so I drove home and ran up to my bedroom before I got out my phone to call him. He answered on the first ring, like he had been waiting all day for my call and refused to let go of his phone.

"What took you so long?" he nearly shouted.

I could tell he was upset. He always got like this when he was upset. He acted as though everything was life or death, and I guess because of last night it kind of explains that part, but still. I switched the phone to rest between my shoulder and my ear while I sat down at my desk and started up my computer. "I was babysitting my cousins, I told you that last night. I just got home. I was gonna stop by your house but all of the cars were gone."

"Look," he said, his tone taking a drastic turn. "I'm not coming home."

I thought that he was joking. He had to be joking. He would have told me about this sooner if he wasn't. … He was telling the truth though. I just knew it. I grabbed my phone, taking my time to reach for it before I responded. "What do you mean you're not coming home?"

He sighed and I could see him reaching to grab the back of his neck like he always did in situations that he didn't want to be in. "I can't talk to you anymore. We are about to board the plane so I have to go. This has to be goodbye, for good. We probably won't ever see each other again and you won't be able to contact me where I'm going so please, don't try."

My chest tightened and I was praying that he would walk into my room at any second and tell me that it was all just some big joke that his brothers put him up to and that he was sorry and he would kiss my and hug me and tell me that he loved me but I knew that he wasn't going to do that. He was leaving. I could hear the people behind him. I could hear the planes taking off and I could hear his dad telling him that he had to get off the phone.

"You have no idea how unbelievably sorry I am, Nat." he said. He took in a sharp breath. "I love you, Nat, so freaking much."

I choked back tears before looking out my window and down the street to his house. "I—"I couldn't hardly breathe. "I love you too Virg."

"Goodbye." If he was at all as upset by this as I was, he hid it well. The line went dead, but I couldn't move. I listened to the dial tone until my phone hung up by itself and I dropped it.

He was gone. He was gone and he wasn't coming back. A universal mover's truck pulled up outside of their house and I felt like screaming at them to not touch any of their stuff, convinced that if it remained untouched, then they would have to come back. But I couldn't move. I couldn't even speak. I watched until the sky had turned dark and the mover's had drove away.

It wasn't until my sister knocked on the door that I finally broke down. I slumped to the ground and cried harder than I ever had before. My sister ran in and before I knew what was happening, she was holding my like I was four years old again.

I must have fallen asleep like that because the next thing I knew, I looked up to see my dad carrying me to my bed. He leaned down and kissed my forehead before tucking me in like I was a child and going to bed himself.

Virgil POV

I pressed the palms of my hands to my eyes to keep myself from crying. There was a pain so raw and deep inside of my chest that I knew that I had done the wrong thing, but it' not like I had much of a choice. I looked down at my phone and stared at the picture of Nat and Me that was on the screen. I wasn't allowed to tell her anything about why I had to say goodbye, but even if she hated me now, I'd still have the memories, which is all I'm allowed to be left with. My father told me to get rid of everything that was Nat's but I couldn't. That would be like cutting out my own heart completely and serving it on a silver platter to Lady P.

I clenched my fist at my side before my father grabbed my shoulder and lead me towards the gate. My head felt like it was going to explode and my chest was aching. I felt so damn terrible about having to break up with Nat, but my father kept telling me, "One person is insignificant compared to the whole."

I've always hated it when he said that, especially when it means leaving the girl that I love. I hate him! I hate him so freaking much! I'm not allowed to tell her anything. But Alan gets to bring his friends along. What the hell!

I buckled myself into my seat beside Scott and closed my eyes. Scott wouldn't bother me until we were on our descent, so I pretended to be asleep until I actually did fall asleep.


	4. Chapter 4

I love comments. I love constructive criticism. Flamers make me sad. I love that I still have people who like this story even though I think that it has been over a year since I updated it. I do appreciate hearing what you don't like about it, so I can get a better sense of who is reading, but I don't like it when people say that my story is bad. Anyway, let's get on with the story.

Two months ago, my boyfriend of five years broke up with me over the phone after he told me that he was moving away. I don't know if he moved to another country or if he moved to the other side of the state. That's what bugged me the most. Sure, we are 17 and teenagers keep secrets from each other, but he didn't have to cut me out of his life completely.

I spent the first three days locked in my room and trying to get myself to stop crying. After that, I went back to school and I was so numb that I walked right past my best friend, Emily. About a week after that was when I finally decided that the grieving period of being dumped was over and I should get back to my life. I called Emily and told her everything that happened and she rushed over to my house with a stack of movies and a tub of ice cream.

People always say that you never forget your first love, and I hope I never forget Virgil. Sure he was being a jerk by breaking up with me over the phone and all, but we had so many great times together that I wouldn't want to forget any of them.

The day after I finally talked to Emily, Virgil's best friend, Andy, came up to me in the hall and asked if Virgil was sick or something, because he never missed school. I told Andy everything that I knew and a look of sympathy crossed his face, after cursing Virgil for leaving, and he hugged me. I think we both needed that. We were the two closest people to Virgil aside from his family.

I turned away from staring out of the window and turned my TV on. It was on the news, something about this new rescue team called the Thunderbirds. There have been three disasters that have happened in the past few weeks, and the Thunderbirds were there every time.

There were three crafts that they knew about that the Thunderbirds used to save the people in those disasters:

The rocket that was always first on the scene to assess the situation.

A giant green ship that carried all of the necessary equipment to help the people.

And an underwater craft that can go farther down than a submarine.

I don't really know what to think about the Thunderbirds. Yeah, they save lives and everything but no one even knows who they are. They could be terrorists or something who are trying to gain our trust just so they can come back and kill us all. Unlikely, I know, but I have a very over active imagination that is always getting me yelled at by my teachers and parents when I come up with crazy explanations about why something is happening or who someone is. It's sort of my defense mechanism. If I think the worst of something or someone, I can't be disappointed for very long afterwards if it turns out to be not so good.

They were rescuing a group of kids that had gotten stuck on a ledge of a mountain. Stupid kids if you asked me. They got themselves there, what's stopping them from getting back?

Okay, I guess since the break-up I've gotten a little bitter. But it doesn't seem like something that requires International Rescue; it's probably just some government ploy or something.

Once they got the kids off of the ledge, the rocket, well, rocketed away, and the giant green ship dropped the kids off at the base of the mountain before following suit, never once showing their faces. They wore masks when they came out of their ships, meaning that they were probably almost maybe sort of like terrorists, kinda.

There was a knock on my door so I turned off the tv and before I could get up to open it, Andy walked up to me and smiled before kissing me. It's bad, I know, Andy asked me to be his girlfriend almost a month ago. Emily was not helping making me feel better. She would constantly nag me about how stupid it was and what Virgil would do if he ever found out and all that crap. I already felt bad for saying yes when he had asked me, but he told me that he wanted me to at least try to make it work. To be honest, it reminded me a bit too much of Clary and Simon from the mortal instruments series by Cassandra Clare.

"You ready?" he asked, meaning our date tonight.

"Yeah," I replied, "lets go." I smiled as best I could and Andy grabbed my hand, lacing his fingers through mine.

Every time he did that, I was reminded of Virgil and how Andy's hand didn't fit in mine as well as Virgil's had. I had to mentally slap myself for that. I had promised Andy that I would try, and I am trying, I really, really, am. I think.

Virgil's POV

"Thunderbird Two to Command and Control," I spoke into the microphone in my helmet, "The kids are on the ground. I'm heading back now, ETA 45 minutes."

"FAB Thunderbird Two." My father replied.

I signed off and took off my helmet before taking off. Looking down, I saw the camera crews starting to pack up, but there were still a few cameras pointed towards Two. As soon as I was far enough away they would back up and the news reporters would throw it back to whomever.

It was almost like we were famous, now. People all around the world knew our name and were actually talking about us, if only there were actually talking about US. But no, we were the mystery men. When I went online there were ads on almost every site 'who are the thunderbirds?' and 'where do the mystery men come from?' and 'are they cute and single?'

When we first got to the island, I found out that I am great at hiding my emotions when I want to. Alan walked up to me the day we go there with Fermat following him and told me that he was sorry and that he would miss Nat too. I remember the strange look that he gave me after I told him that it was for the best. I remember Gordon asking me why I didn't fight with dad about every day until I got what I wanted and him start yelling at me because of it.

Scott and John too. John had dedicated his latest book 'to my sister, Nat' because she practically was a part of the family. Scot just asked me why I was okay with it and I told him the closest thing to the truth that I would dare to say.

"I'm not Scott, but fighting about it with dad won't change anything, besides, the less she knows, the safer she is."

To be honest, breaking up with her was the hardest thing that I ever had to do, besides going to moms funeral and explaining to Alan what mom looked like. But I'd never been good at explaining things like John had, so I painted him a picture of her. He hung it up on his wall the second that it dried and again the second it was unloaded on the island.

I think that dad was trying to make up for not letting me tell Nat. there was an entire room, fully stocked, with everything a painter could ever dream of, and aside from that, there was a music room and in the middle stood the legendary Steinway & Sons Model D Horowitz Piano which had toured America. I had had a Steinway grand piano at home, and it sat in the corner of my new music room, but this was THE piano, like, the only piano.

I spent the first week after finishing up the birds in the music room playing CD 305 and Beethoven and Bach Fur De Lis. It was all I could do to keep my mind from wondering.

The island soon came into sight and I heard my father's voice over the comms unit on the dash. "Thunderbird Two, prepare for docking."

"FAB dad."

Once I parked Thunderbird Two in the Hanger, I walked out to find Tin-Tin trying to climb inside one of Two's pods.

"Tin-Tin," I asked, "What are you doing?"

She jumped at the sound of my voice before Fermat ran in ad started screaming, "I f-f-f-found you T-Tin-Tin." Hide and seek I guess.

"Thanks Virgie, you gave me away!" she screamed before running off away from the silos with Fermat following closely behind.

Tin-Tin and Alan are gonna get married someday. I used to babysit them with Nat and that's all she would talk about. All I could ever think about was how I wanted to marry her someday, but that's not ever gonna happen now. Alan gets Tin-Tin, Dad gets Lady Penelope, and I get eternal loneliness and even if I ever did see Nat again she would probably already be married and have children of her own. I know, I'm seventeen and I'll probably get over it, but right now, it still hurts.

Thanks for reading, next chapter coming soon. :P hope you liked.


	5. Chapter 5

Hey guys and girlies, I'm so sorry that I haven't posted in a while. I tried to get this chapter up before school started but I got bombed with work and you can't possibly imagine how bad I feel about not posting in so long, so here it is, please comment and tell me what you want, if you have any ideas or tips, I will be happy to hear you out. Thank you.

Andy was great. He was way too nice to me considering all I could do was compare him Virgil. I hated feeling like I couldn't move on. All I wanted to do was get past Virgil but I'm just not sure how I can. I spent five years with him, and even though we were still in school and only children, I did love him. I still do love him. I don't think that I will ever not love him. Why the hell does life have to be so damned complicated?

Sitting in my room and cleaning out my closet was the only thing that I could think to do to get my mind away from boys for at least a couple of hours. I had clothes piled up on my bed and boxes and bags scattered around my room while I tried to sort through everything and get some kind of system going.

What I didn't expect was to find my old toy-box that was filled with books and stories and adventures that Alan had Virgil and I draw and write for him when we used to babysit him. Virgil would draw all of the pictures and I would write down everything that Alan had told me to. I remember that Alan only ever had me write down the stories he told me when I was the only one around, he had told me that it was a secret and that no one could find out, so I never told anyone that I had them. I guess that I forgot about them because until I opened the toy-box I had completely forgotten about them.

I found the book that Alan had made of him and his brothers being superheroes. I couldn't help but smile at the memory of watching him explain every little detail.

John would be in outer space watching over the world. He would wear orange because that was the color of his space station. He would find people who needed help and call it down to earth where Scott Virgil and Gordon would take over and Alan when he was old enough.

Scott would fly his rocket to wherever and would always be first on the scene to assess the situation and he would wear blue because it was his favorite color and he wanted his rocket to be that color.

Virgil would show up a little bit later with all of the equipment needed to save whom-ever needed help and he would fly a big green ship because you can guess what his favorite color was.

Gordon, loving the water as much as he did, would have control over the underwater rescues in a little yellow ship that was able to go way deeper than any other submarine.

Alan, when he was old enough would fly a big red rocket ship into outer space when there was something threatening or if astronauts needed assistance, until then, their father, ex-astronaut would control that ship.

I flipped through the pages of the book and it didn't take long before I saw a resemblance between Alan's story and a certain new rescue team.

Alan had Virgil draw the pictures, because that was one of his many amazing talents, and immediately, I took out my laptop and brought up an internet search for international Rescue and it was undeniable that Virgil's pictures were the exact same ships that had made an appearance only a few weeks ago, around the same time that the Tracey's left.

The second that I heard my father calling me downstairs for dinner, I threw Alan's book under a pile of papers and shut off my computer. I stood at the foot of my bed and stared out of my window. I started to shake my head, hoping that I was going crazy; I never wanted to believe that Virgil would intentionally put himself in the kind of danger that international rescue was constantly walking into.

I heard a knock on my door and looked up to see my dad walking into my room. "You okay kid?" he asked.

"Yeah dad, I'll be down in a minute, I was cleaning." I said motioning towards my floor that was covered in what used to be in my closet.

He gave me a skeptical look and told me to go downstairs for dinner. I followed him right away and tried to erase the thoughts that were running through my mind.

About half way through dinner my mom spoke up with a very loud and startling "So, Natalie." I looked up and waited a moment for her to continue; when she didn't I put down my fork and swallowed what was in my mouth and looked her in the eye.

"Yes mommy?" I asked in a sickly sweet tone.

She glared at me for a moment before pulling out a white envelope that had happy birthday written on it in her hardly legible scribble.

"Mom, my birthday isn't for another two weeks."

She slid the envelope across the table and motioned for me to open it.

"Open it." My father said.

I sighed and shook my head before folding open the flap and pulling out the blur colored piece of paper that was inside.

**Universal Cruises **was printed on the top of a ticket to a boat that was leaving in two weeks exactly.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Here I am again. To the people who were pointing out that the Tracy's were being careless, if you keep reading you will find out why I put that section in the story. Don't be so quick to judge, it hurts my insides. It makes me feel sad. It makes me not want to write. … Aside from that, here is chapter six, I hope you enjoy.

After dinner, I walked upstairs and grabbed my computer and the paper books that I had long forgotten about and climbed into my closet. I don't know why, but I had always felt like no one could disturb me when I was in my closet (my sister, Katie, later accused me of being gay because I loved my closet so much).

I turned on the light and stayed up all night researching International Rescue and it wasn't until morning, when it suddenly became brighter in my room, that I knew I hadn't gone to bed.

At school, I was distracted. I couldn't talk and I could tell that my friends were getting worried about me by lunch. I had sat down with only a bottle of water that I didn't open and ten minutes into lunch Andy pulled me out into the hallway. I didn't know what I could say.

I didn't want to talk to him. I was having a bad day. There were no words that anyone could say that could have made my day any bit better.

I took Andy's hand and he pulled me into a hug. I cried. In the middle of the hallway, with people watching and Andy holding me, I cried. I didn't go to Physics. Andy led me outside and we sat behind the bleachers and watched the pot-heads walk by and the self-proclaimed bad-asses get high.

We didn't talk. We didn't kiss. Andy only held me until the final bell rang and then gave me a ride home.

I was about ready to get out of his car when he grabbed my hand and pulled me in for a kiss. It was what I needed to forget. In the moment of the kiss, I was lost. Time did not exist. When we broke apart Andy smiled at me and pulled an envelope out of his back pocket. On the front, in his horrid scribble were the words, I'm coming too.

I opened the envelope and found a ticket that was exactly like the one that my parents had given me. I smiled and gave Andy a chaste kiss before inviting him inside. Katie was the only one home and she would stay in the basement until our parents got home.

Andy and I went up into my bedroom, dropped our bags at the foot of my bed, and fell back onto my bed and kissed. Andy was holding his weight above my body and his mouth was exploring my neck. His hands traveled up my waist and under my shirt, my hands mirrored his and I felt his abs and moved my mouth back to his.

Our tongues fought in each other's mouth and we broke apart only when I took pulled his shirt over his head. He pulled my shirt off as soon as his was on the floor, leaving me in my camisole.

I don't know how long we stayed like that, but we broke apart when Katie opened my door and screamed at me for being gross. She covered her eyes but I could see her peeking at Andy. I slid out from under him and pushed her out of my room and closed the door then locked it. "Sorry," I said, "She can be a pest."

"It's okay. Maybe it was a sign from the gods saying that we better start our homework."

"Can we start with sex ed?"

"Absolutely."

We didn't have sex.

We did kiss until my parents came home and Andy stayed for dinner. Leaving after he gave me a kiss goodbye.

Virgil POV

The music seemed to fill the room, but it didn't feel like I was the one playing. I was lost in my own thoughts, but I was trying to block them out. Unfortunately, we did get Facebook on the island, even though we weren't allowed to message anyone.

I'll admit I did Facebook stalk Nat for a while. When I saw that her relationship status has changed, and that she and Andy were together, I locked myself in my room and I cried. I was forced to get over it quickly when a call came in only five minutes later.

I've tried to stop thinking about it, and most of the time I don't, but when I'm alone in my studio with my paints and my pianos, I can't think of anything else. I write songs and I paint her and I paint Andy, and once, I painted them together. I paint how I feel.

At night, I can't help but wonder if she still has the books that Alan came up with. Dad had told me to get rid of them, and I told him that I did. I recreated a few of them and threw the copies in the fireplace, fooling him into believing that no one could ever find out because of a childish book. I hope beyond hope that she has found them, and that she understands why I couldn't tell her where I was going.

If I never see her again, I will be okay as long as she is not mad at me.

The alarm breaks through my thoughts and I get up to run to my father's office. Brains was sitting at command and control and Fermat was standing right behind him watching everything with an intense stare.

I walked up to the wall where my portrait slid aside and I stepped into the tube just as my father and brothers did the same. I saw Alan staring at us, wanting so badly to join us, but because my father said that we had to be sixteen before we could go on missions, Alan slummed around whenever he was left out.

I remember when Scott and John used to leave me out of everything, claiming that I wouldn't understand or that I wasn't old enough. Sometimes I miss those days. They were simpler. The risk of dying was when I got stuck in the tree and my mom had to come and get me.

I remember she used to love climbing trees, that's why I climbed them. I thought that maybe she would notice me more if we had more in common. It didn't really work, mostly I just got in trouble.

The side of the mountain opened and I rolled Thunderbird Two out until the ramp started to raise. I put the thrusters to 50% and took off, leaving a cloud of smoke in my path. Somewhere over the rainbow, someone was in trouble. Scot and I could handle this one. We did. No one stating to sound like Nat.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Thanks for reading! I posted the last chapter right before I went to sleep and I woke up to an email box full of comments. It made my day, so thank you.

The walls started to crumble. There was an explosion to my right. I had to move Thunderbird Two. I could see the children on the ground, crying and pleading for me to get down to them. It wasn't going to happen from up here. There was no way that I could get a clear shot. I radioed in.

"Thunderbird One, this is Thunderbird Two, I'm going down myself. I can't get to the kids from here. "

"Virg!" I heard Scott, respond, "You can't go down there, its too dangerous."

I turned on the auto pilot and listened to Scott scream at me through my ear piece. I didn't care. I would not let those kids die down there. I got to the hatch and hooked myself up to the cable with the recue basket that would lower me down to the ground. Gordon ran over and grabbed my shoulder.

"You can't do this."

I smiled at him and reached behind him to press the release button. The door to hatch opened and the cabin filled with wind. "Wait for my signal." I shouted at him.

Gordon nodded his head reluctantly and watched me repel down to the ground.

I unhooked myself from the cable and ran over to where the kids were; four of them, crouched on the ground and holding each other. The oldest couldn't have been more than eight. He held a small girl in his arms, barely awake, and moaning. The other two, ran over to me and started to drag me towards where they were.

They pointed down to a small hole, between a slab of concrete and the rubble of whatever else was around us. I saw a hand. I heard an infants' cry and a weak whisper.

I ushered the children back to the basket and strapped them in. I gave Gordon the signal to send them back up and I called in through my radio for him to send down the plasma lasers. It didn't take long for him get the kids situated and send the lasers down. When he did, I ran back over to the woman and started to cut away at the concrete.

After about 30 minutes, I got enough of the concrete away so that I could get the child out. The woman struggled to move so I had to pull her out before I could reach the child. She was moaning and when I got her out I could see red staining her right side.

I rolled her over and saw that a shard of metal had embedded itself in her abdomen. Too big to pull out, I slid her over to lean against a slab that was stable enough to keep her upright.

"My baby," she struggled to get the words out. "Take my baby." She grabbed my hand and looked at me with the most sincere eyes that I had ever seen. She reminded me so much of my mother in that moment. She was going to give up her life for me to save her child.

I could save them both. I knew I could. I radioed up to Gordon to send down the back board and I strapped the baby into the basket and hooked myself up to it to get the small child up into Thunderbird Two safely.

Gordon passed me the backboard and I went right back down to the ground. Ignoring the calls from Scott telling me that I couldn't help, I ran over to the woman and lay her down on the board. I opened the first aid kit and pulled out the gauze and pressed it to her side. Before moving her over to the basket where I strapped her in and hooked myself up.

The hatch closed behind us and I sent Gordon to keep her alive while I flew the ship to the nearest hospital ten minutes away.

Scott was still telling me that I shouldn't have gone down.

The kids were strapped in and Gordon was constantly giving me updates.

"Dammit Virgil," Scott yelled at me through the radio, "Answer me!"

I radioed back, "I'm on my way to the hospital."

The woman died before we got there. The paramedics were unsuccessful at bringing her back. Her oldest child did not cry, instead, he held her hand as she died.

Natalie's POV

The horn blew and the ship pulled away from the dock. I waved back at my parents until I couldn't see them anymore. I felt Andy wrap his arms around my waist and kiss my neck.

"Alone at last." He whispered. I smiled and laughed.

This would be good for me. I could get away and focus on Andy. I could forget about Virgil.

I felt Andy grab my hand and he lead me away from the deck and down to the rooms. We found them easily enough, and after I put my bags near the desk, Andy pulled me closer to him and kissed me.

He pulled away a few moments later, smiled down at me and asked, "You wanna get something to eat?"

I smiled back, ignoring my heart, and said, "Definitely."

Sorry its such a short chapter. I'm swamped with schoolwork and trying to START my college essay which is due in like a month and I figured I should get something out there. I will try to post the next chapter soon, but I cant promise when I will get it out there. Just trust that I wont make you wait too long. No more than a week, I hope. Other than that, I hope you enjoyed.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I am so sorry. I know I have not posted in a long time, but I hoping to pick up the pace again. Please don't hate me. Anyway, without further apologies, continue on with the story. Please review, tell me what you think and what I can do.

The view was amazing. I was standing at the back of the ship, looking out at the stars and thinking.

I was thinking about home. I was thinking about my future. I was thinking about where I would go to college. I was thinking about my family and my friends. Mostly though, I was thinking about Andy and Virgil.

Andy was a great boyfriend. Truly. He never wanted to see me upset and he did all that he could to make sure that I never was. He came on a ship with me for my 18th birthday for Christ sake, and he always made me laugh, but it felt like he was just a friend. I couldn't force myself to feel stronger about him than I did. I wanted to love him as a boyfriend, but I couldn't get passed Virgil.

I had always heard people tell me that it would never last with us. We were young and immature and high school relationships never ended well. Even if I did ever get over Virgil, I don't think that it would change how I feel about Andy.

I felt the breeze of the ocean wind on my skin and my hair whipped back and forth behind my head, probably tangling itself and I sighed and leaned onto the bar and watched the water.

Talking had never solved any of my problems. All I needed to do was think, be by myself, and let my devil and angel argue about my issues in my head before I made a decision. I had finally come to one, and though it might scare me, it also brought me peace.

I felt strong hands snake around my waist and I knew that Andy was behind me. He was humming the tune to the Titanic theme song and he started swaying with the beat. For the moment, I let myself relax. I wanted to be loved; I wanted to be cared for. In Andy's arms, listening to him humming, I could hear Virgil playing in the background.

I couldn't help but think about all of the times that Virgil had tried to teach me how to play piano. I never got the hold of it.

I sighed, figuring that I should talk to Andy sooner rather than later. The longer that I waited to tell him, the harder it would be for both of us. I turned around in his arms and wrapped my arms around his waist. He leaned down to give me a kiss and I did the worst thing I think I could have. I turned my head so that his kiss landed on the corner of my mouth.

Andy pulled away and I could see the look in his eyes that said he knew what I was about to say.

"Andy," I started, "I'm so sorry."

"I get it." He said. That's all he said.

"Andy."

"Nat, It's okay. I don't blame you. I could never blame you."

"I really did try to make this work. I wanted this to work so badly. I swear, I never—"

"Don't." He walked away.

It took me a minute to actually realize what had happened. Neither of us had said that it was over, but I knew that it was. He knew that it was. Nothing actually needed to be said.

I turned back around and rested my hands on the railing once more. My mind ran blank until the chill of the ocean brought me back to reality. I rubbed my arms in a frail attempt to warm me up some.

Something jerked me out of my sleep. I opened my eyes and saw that it was still dark. The ship was still for a moment. Nothing was moving at all it seemed. It was almost as if the ocean had decided to sleep. I reached over to the night stand to grab my water bottle and it started to slide away. I couldn't feel the ship moving at first. I saw a few things start to shift, which isn't abnormal for being on a ship.

I grabbed my water and slid it closer to me. I could feel vibrations and see ripples in the water. I stood up and walked over to the small porthole window. I barely got a chance to look out at the ocean before the ship shook and I fell to the floor. I heard something loud that sounded like an explosion.

I managed to stand up and make my way to the door. I saw only a few people at first; confused and scared. Walking down the small and somewhat cramped hallway, I was pushed aside as another rumble shook the ship and people started running past me towards the upper decks.

I made my way through the crowd and found Andy's door. I opened it, hoping that he wouldn't be too mad at me. I at least needed to make sure that he was okay. He wasn't in his room.

I hadn't see him in the hall, so he didn't leave after the first rumble.

Suddenly, it seemed as though the ocean had awoken. I made it out to the hallway once more and it was getting harder to walk in a straight line. The screams and shoved of the people passing me did not help either.

I walked against the flow of people. I was not on the lowest deck. I knew that there were people, children, and families' on decks that were below me so I made my way as best I could to the stairs that led lower on the ship.

It was only a couple of flights down that I realized the people coming up the stairs were dripping.

Virgil POV

The latest thing online was a picture that Nat's mom had taken. I could see Nat standing amongst a crowd of people on a ship. Universal Cruises. Next to Natalie was Andy, holding onto her waist.

"You know bro," I heard Scott say from the door, "If you keep stalking her like this, I might just file a report with the police for her."

"Scott, what are doing keeping tabs on me?"

"I'm just trying to make sure that you are okay. I'm your big brother. Believe it or not bro, I care about you." He said.

Scott continued, "I also care about this team; our family. I need to make sure you are able to perform at your best."

"You sound like dad."

"Virg, I'm just looking out for you. You need to find some way to get past the fact that you had to leave her behind. We all loved her; we all miss her, but you know as well as I that there is nothing any of us could have done. You know how protective about IR dad is."

"Yeah, but he lets Fer—"

"that's different and you know it. Brains is his dad, there is no way that Fermat could have been left out of this all."

"Yeah, I know." I exited out of Facebook and turned off my computer. "Do you think lunch is ready?"


	9. Chapter 9

Hey there people! As I promised, another chapter. I don't have a lot to say besides review please! It's the only way that I know how you guys like the story. One other thing I would like to mention, I was looking over old comments after re-reading the chapter that I have already posted. A lot (Two specific people) were saying that a lot of what I have written was unbelievable due to the fact that Natalie is still in love with Virgil but making out with Andy. I just want to say that everything that I have written about that was based off of something that had happened with my best friend. Anyway, I think I'm done ranting right now. Thank you to all who review(good and bad)! Ya'll are awesome!

Virgil POV

We had just finished dinner when the alarm blared throughout the house. We all bolted to command and control, apologizing to Onaha for leaving her with the dishes like we often did. Brains briefed us on the situation as we were prepping our ships for take-off.

"A Universal Cruise ship is taking on water fast in the Atlantic. The captain reports hearing people talk of something that sounded like an explosion deep inside the ship. They are working on getting people onto life boats but they have ten floors of passenger rooms. They are clearing as many people as they can, but the captain doesn't know how long it will take to get everyone off."

"Great Brains," I heard my dad say. "John, can you get a visual on the ship?"

"Pulling it up now. It looks like its holding steady, Its almost as if the ship is sinking perfectly even."

I set the thrusters to 50%, changing them to max when I was in the air. Gordon was sitting next to me, and my dad next to him. They were prepping for Thunderbird Four which was sitting in the belly of my ship.

"Thunderbird One to Thunderbird Two." I heard Scott say.

"Thunderbird Two receiving, go ahead Scott."

"Weren't you just looking at a picture of a Universal Cruise ship earlier today?"

"Scott, You don't think—"

"When did that Ship leave?"

"Two days ago, I think."

"Thunderbird One to Thunderbird Five."

"Come in Scott." I heard John say.

"Can you access the passenger list for the ship that is going down?"

"Yeah, give me a minute."

My dad spoke up. "What is going on Scott?"

"Nothing dad." I said. "Scott there are a minimum of three of those ships out at once. It's not possible."

"What's not possible?" My dad asked?

"Thunderbird Five to Thunderbird One, who am I looki—" John stopped mid sentence. "Natalie!?"

"No. She's on another ship." I said. She had to be. There was no way she could be on that ship.

"I'm looking at the passenger list right here Virg."

"She's on another ship!"

"Boys!" Dad spoke up. "It doesn't matter. We do this rescue like any other. We go top to bottom. Clear the rooms as we go. It doesn't matter who is or isn't on the ship. No one person takes priority over the rest. Understood?"

A chorus of FAB sounded over the intercom system. "FAB, Dad." I said

"Good. Scott, What s your ETA?"

"Fifteen minutes."

"Good, Virgil?"

"Twenty."

Natalie POV

There were only three floors of passenger rooms below me. I climbed down the Stairs as fast as I could. The screams got louder the lower I went. Soon enough, I was standing it waster that was up to my knees. On the lowest level of passenger rooms, there were two other people I saw, trying like hell to open the doors at the end of the hall. There were six rooms with the doors stuck closed.

I made my way back to them. "How many people are in there?" I had to scream for the two men to hear me.

"Don't know! The doors are stuck! We've tried everything!"

"Please! Get my children! Where are my babies? Tell me they are okay!" I hear a high pitched scream from the last door. The water was up to my thighs now, almost reaching the hem of my shorts that I had fallen asleep in.

"Are they in there with you?"

"They are across the hall. Tell me they are okay!"

I turned back to the two men. "Is there anything we could use as a lever? Something like a crowbar. A pipe maybe?"

"Wait here!"

The younger of the two men, he was probably about thirty, made his way back down the hall and up the stairs. He returned two minutes with a crowbar, an axe and a hammer.

"I remembered the Janitors closet on the floor above."

The water was up to my stomach by the time he got back over to us. We started yelling at everyone to stand away from the doors. I grabbed the crowbar and went for the room that the woman said her children were in.

After prying and smashing for almost five minutes, the door slammed open into the hall. Two children were in there that I saw. They looked to be about ten and twelve years old. Just barely boys, but they made their way to the top of the desk and I saw them holding onto one of the pipes on the ceiling.

The water was up to my chest and the higher the water got, the faster I was able to move. I got to the boys and got them down just as I saw a flash of blonde hair swim over to greet them.

"Get out of here! Go to the upper decks!"

"Thank you!"

"Go!"

They swam away and so did a few other people. My feet weren't touching the floor by the time there was only one room left.

The older of the two men was trying to swing the axe that he had but he dropped it when it became impossible for him. The younger man and I swam over to him and all three of us grabbed onto the end of the crow bar.

Whoever was in that room had stopped talking a few minutes before, so we tried as hard as we could to get the door open. Someone was yelling at the end of the hall.

I swam over to the stairs to meet the person whose voice I heard.


	10. Chapter 10

Virgil POV

I was on the ship, clearing the lower levels. I only had two more levels to clear before I would have to swim down to the engine rooms and employee quarters. The ship was sinking faster with every second. There hadn't been any explosions since we arrived a few minutes ago, but we were not going to take that chance. We kept out guard up. Gordon was in his submarine, checking around the ship to see if he could find anymore explosives.

"I couldn't find anything. If there are anymore, they are well concealed and it's anybody's guess where they are. Virg, I'm coming down to meet you. I'm gonna see if I can find any from the inside." I heard Gordon say from radio inside of my helmet.

I heard a chorus of "FAB."

Only about thirty seconds later did Gordon appear at my side.

"That was fast." I said.

"I ran. I'll check the next level, you finish up here."

We tapped wrists, a silent way of communication.

Gordon headed down the stairs at the end of the hall while I walked down to check the rooms. I was on my way back to the stairs when the ship shook and water started pouring in from the end of the hall opposite the stairs.

"Gordon. Gordon, can you hear me?" I radioed.

"Virgil, what just happened?" I heard my dad.

"There was another explosion on the level Gordon was on, I'm going down to check it out."

By the time I got to the stairs, I had to dive down. I turned on the lights on my helmet. What I saw was a mess. Desks and chairs and bed frames and nightstands and suitcases and clothes floated around me in the debris. I looked over and saw a flash of yellow piping on a white jumpsuit underneath an overturned desk. I swam over to move it, finding Gordon with a cracked helmet lying underneath.

I dragged him up to the floor above which was already filling with water going past my waist. I took off his helmet and tried to rouse him from his unconscious state. "Gordon, c'mon bro, you gotta wake up."

Slowly, he started to open his eyes, looking around for a moment before speaking. "Did I miss the end of the movie?"

"He's okay." I radioed in. "C'mon, we gotta get you back up—"

"Did you find Nat?" He asked.

I froze. My heart fell. "What do you mean?"

"I saw her. Just before the explosion."

"Get back up to the 'birds, help the rest of the people get off the ship. Go!" I pushed him towards the stairs, and dove back under the second he was out of sight.

It had been just about a minute and a half when I was back down to the debris covered floor. I knew from Gordon that after three minutes of not breathing, people started to die. In cold water, people can last longer, but I did not want to take that chance. I assumed the worst and started to frantically search for Natalie.

I kept track of time on my watch, but ever second that passed felt like an hour. I shoved everything out of the way and looked in every room, hoping that Natalie was far enough from the explosion that she could still be alive.

Seventy six seconds passed before I saw a flash of hair. It was short and blonde and from what I could tell, the person it belonged to looked male. I turned the person over and regretted it the second I did. His face was gone. The entire front side of him was just, gone.

I turned him back over, saying a silent prayer for him.

I looked around and it seemed as though everything was still. It was like someone put a movie on pause for just a moment before I saw a suitcase start floating towards me. A small nightstand followed and I swam over, pushing away everything was in the direction of movement.

I saw a hand first. I grabbed on, pulling the person closer. I didn't stop to look at the person. I just swam with their hand in mine until I reached a floor where was space to stand.

I pulled the person, a girl, up and held her as she coughed, dispelling water and trying to catch her breath.

I knew it was Natalie. It couldn't be anyone but Natalie. It had to be her. I couldn't allow myself accept that though until she moved her hair away from her face and I got the chance to look her in the eyes.

I raised the visor on my helmet and reached a hand out to push her hair back. "Natalie."

"I knew you'd come, Virg."

She was still having trouble breathing. Her chest was heaving and she had her arm wrapped around my shoulder for support. Greeting would have to wait. I had my job to do first. Besides, it didn't look like she knew really what to say at the moment.

We were three floors up from where I found her and Gordon and water was rising faster. At some point, I felt the ship start to tilt and I heard Scott in my ear.

"Virg, you need to get out of there now. Grab a life vest and jump when you get to the first deck."

"Then swim like hell." Gordon chimed in.

"I've got Natalie." I said. "I'll go as fast as I—"

"Please! Someone help!"

"Hello? Where are you?"

"I'm down here!"

"I've got someone else on board. It sounds like a male." I radioed in. I looked over to Natalie.

"I'm not leaving without you." She said.

We didn't have time to argue so I grabbed her hand as we started to run down the slanted hall towards the sound of the mans' voice.

"Sir, are you okay?"

We ended up in front of a gift shop, a place that I had checked on my way down to the lower levels. I had checked behind every door and no one was there. I wondered how someone could have ended up back down there.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Nat POV

Someone was screaming for help on the other side of a gift shop door. He sounded absolutely terrified.

"Please! Help me!"

"I'm right here. I'm going to get you out of here." Virgil said.

I knew I should let him do his job, but I couldn't bear to leave him. I couldn't risk losing him again. I wouldn't be able to handle it.

He looked like he had aged ten years in a matter of months. His posture, his tone, his actions, were all those of a man who had seen too much.

I watched as he opened the door to the shop, then froze. "Andy?"

"What?" I practically yelled. Virgil disappeared behind the door and I moved to follow him, but I couldn't.

I couldn't move. Not a hand, not even a finger. My heart started racing and I started to freak out. I tried to call out, to tell Virgil that I couldn't move, but I couldn't. I couldn't make the slightest of sounds. I was terrified.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I wanted so badly to be able to move away. It was not a comforting hand, or a helpful hand. It was the hand of someone who was taking pleasure in what was happening.

He walked around to step in front of me and I saw he had a large kitchen knife in his hand. I didn't want to know what he was going to do. I didn't want to know anything at that point. I watched as he grabbed the blade of the knife with his fingertips and I felt myself grab the handle. There was only a split second of relief before I realized that I had turned the knife on myself.

I had the knife pressed up against my solar plexus. I stood there, just staring at the man. I stared him straight in the eyes until he turned and walked to the doors of the shop that Virgil and possible Andy were in.

About a minute later, three figures walked out of the room. First was Virgil, with his hands on the back of his head, followed by a terrified Andy who was holding a gun on himself, them a very smug looking man, the same man who had some sort of hold over my and I assumed Andy as well.

Virgil stopped walking when he turned his head and saw me. He wasn't wearing his helmet anymore, so I could see his face clearly. He moved to take another step before an expression of pain crossed his face and he grabbed his head, doubling over in the process.

"I said, don't do anything." The man spoke.

When Virgil stood back up, he was breathing harder and looked like he was still in pain.

"Let's have a chat, shall we?" The man said.

"Now Virgil, I am going to ask you a question, and I want you to answer it honestly. Which one of your friends here do you care about more?"

"You can't ask me to choose." With each passing second, Virgil was looking more and more angry.

"I'm not asking. I'm telling you to decide. If you could save only one person here, who would you save?"

Virgil didn't answer. Not at first at least.

The man walked over to Andy. "This boy here has been your best friend for how long? Ten years?"

He made his was over to me. "And this lovely little girl. How long have you been planning on proposing to her?"

"But you didn't tell either of them about your secret. How could you do that to them? One day, you are telling them how much you care, and the next, you leave. You didn't tell either of them where you were going.

"And you watched from afar as they became closer. You saw each picture that they posted and you didn't do anything.

"Do you even actually care about either of them? Pick one. Amuse me."

"Just them go, okay? Take me."

"Interesting proposition. Andy, tell us what you think."

I watched as Andy lowered the gun from his head and it turned slowly towards me. A shot went off and a loud scream filled the hall. I felt the hot piece of metal pass through my shoulder and I wanted to cry out in pain, but I couldn't.

"Natalie, your rebuttal."

I looked down at my hand that was moving on its own. At some point, I had managed to get hold of another, smaller knife, one that was meant for throwing. It left my hand before I knew what was happing and embedded itself in Andy's upper arm.

"Stop!" Virgil cried.

The ship shook again, and I felt water lapping at my feet, rising faster than before, then the ship tilted more.

"You don't have much time, Virgil."

"Just take me. Let them go and take me."

"Virgil, you already heard what your friends have to say about that idea. Do you need to hear it again?"

"No!"

The water was already up to my waist.

Andy, once again, pointed the gun at me and pulled the trigger at the same time that I threw another knife. The second bullet hit me in the stomach while the second knife landed in his shoulder.

I felt like passing out from the pain.

"Stop!"

"Pick one! Or watch them kill each other!"

The ship shook again and water started to pour in from the middle of the ship where a new hole had formed.

The water was up to my neck and my feet were still stuck to the floor.

"I suppose you'll just have to drown together then."

The man dove under the water and disappeared. As soon as he did, I felt myself fall back, clutching at my stomach. The water closed in over my face and I struggled to keep my eyes open, to look for a way out.

I could see Virgil swimming away with his arm around Andy and I felt a tug on my wrist pull me up and someone put their arm around me. I couldn't see anything but the white of a jumpsuit and the blue of the water.

I could feel something tugging at the back of my eyes, pulling me into unconsciousness. I didn't want to give in. I wanted to keep my eyes open. I couldn't.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

Virgil POV:

The man disappeared under the water and I dove under grabbing onto the closest person I could find.

It was Andy. The water around him was turning red from the wounds he suffered. I cringed at the thought of how neither of them flinched when they were hit.

Andy grabbed onto my arm with his hand that he could still move and pulled. No doubt trying to push himself up above the water to get air. I pulled him closer and pushed off of the floor, hoping that there was still air in the small space before we would have to swim to get out of the ship.

I had forgotten what level we were on and I didn't want to risk having to swim out on what little breath we both had.

There was a small pocket of air, only about six inches from the ceiling, where Andy and I gasped for a quick moment.

"Get as much as you can!" I yelled to him over the loudness of the sinking ship. "We are going to have swim!"

As we made our way closer to an exit I forced myself to swim faster. Gordon was on his way. He had to be. Someone had to be. Whoever was on their way would find Natalie before it was too late and they would take her to safety as I was taking Andy to safety.

Sure enough, as we reached the stairs I saw Gordon dive under the water. He would save Natalie. He was the fastest swimmer around.

About ten seconds after I saw Gordon Andy and I made it to an area that was only beginning to fill with water. "Can you stand?"

"Yeah." He said, Clutching below his shoulder. He stopped moving for a moment and slowly looked down at is arm and began reaching for the knife that was sticking out of him.

"Wait!" I yelled. "Don't pull that out just yet. We don't know if its in a tendon or what. If you pull that out you might not ever be able to move your arm again."

"Virg! We gotta get out of here!" I heard Gordon yell behind me.

The water was up to my thighs and it was hard to move. I forced myself to only pay attention to Andy. I couldn't look at Natalie, I couldn't look to see if she was even there.

"Come on, Andy!" I Put my arm around his back and helped pull him forward, all the while as we made our way up to an open deck, Gordon stayed behind us.

By the time we reached the first open deck the ship had to have been at a 45 degree angle.

"Jump!" I heard Gordon yell in my ear. I didn't question it. I helped Andy over the railing and was careful of where the knives were in his arm. I grabbed onto the back of his shirt and jumped, pulling him with me.

It felt like an eternity before we resurfaced and saw the ship going down like the titanic. I looked over to Andy and his eyes were barely open. I flipped him onto his back, grabbed him, and swam. I didn't look behind me for Gordon. I couldn't. A rescue basket was lowering from Thunderbird Two and came closer to us.

When it was right in front of us I pushed Andy on first and pulled myself up on afterwords. Immediately, the rig started to rise and I clipped on the safety harness to Andy.

I dared to look down at the water and found that Gordon had not jumped off of the ship after Andy and I had. He was not anywhere to be seen in the water. I didn't want to think about what could have happened to him but my brain went into overdrive when there were four more explosions and the ship seemed to disintegrate before my eyes.

Everything stopped.

It felt like days had passed before I saw a small yellow submarine surface. Just before The rescue basket came to a stop and we were inside the belly of Thunderbird Two and the doors closed beneath us.


End file.
